Ways to distinguish yourself #147 – Be in the right place

A few weeks ago I was in Boston speaking at TiECon East. I stayed at the beautiful Hyatt hotel overlooking the Charles River. It was late in the evening and I thought of fixing myself a cup of coffee. Next to the table, there were two bottles of water and each bottle there was priced at $4.95. It was surprising but not shocking. There were no shops closeby to the hotel and I am sure a few people won’t mind paying $4.95 for a bottle of water. Hey, the room costs more than $200 a night and that bottle of water costs less than 2.5% of the room rate 🙁

Now, we all know how much does a dozen bottles of water cost at a place like Costco. Probably cheaper than $4.95. So, what changed. One thing is location. Take the same bottle of water to the middle of the desert and I am sure they can charge $49.95 and nobody will blink at the price. Premium, in this case is mostly related to the location.

The above example can easily be applied to our personal and professional lives as well. You bring a certain set of skills and strengths to the marketplace. If there is an oversupply of those skills and strengths at the location where you are, you are in a commodity marketplace. It is hard to ask for a premium in a commodity marketplace. That is not a good battle to fight. Alternately, think about what is the right location where your skills and strengths are more welcome.

Agreed. You have so many things going on where you are and it’s hard to move. It’s not that easy. It will disrupt everything that you have built. If that’s really the case, and you CAN’T move, you have to seriously think what are those skills and strengths that are commanding a premium at your CURRENT location. Is your current BRAND relevant in the current LOCATION?

If what you bring to the marketplace is not relevant, you are not bringing much. You can blame it on the marketplace, economy, outsourcing, government or you can do something about it.